Sidetracked

I have been sidetracked by an "article" that I am writing that I plan to submit to a local newspaper, maybe the Sacramento Bee or the San Francisco Chronicle. It's all about the skies that I have photographed since we moved here in 2010. We have seen more stunning sights looking skyward than I could have ever possibly imagined. The skies here have compelled me to find sites like Atmospheric Optics and The Cloud Appreciation Society just to be able to identify what the heck we're looking at.

Last week I sent this photo to Les Cowley at Atmospheric Optics. I am utterly embarrassed to admit that I didn't recognize that silly lens reflection in the photo. I was just so surprised to find that blue dot in two photos out of many I shot that day. I chalked up my enthusiasm to a week of meteors and asteroids, so I was overly influenced by the moment. What Mr. Cowley saw, though, was a "faint upper tangent arc halo" and a "22 degree circular halo."  I was so relieved that he found something of merit. I thought it was an interesting sky, I just didn't know why.

I'm learning, and I'm sharing.